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Speaker 1: Ruth's Christmas by Abbe Philip's Walker one. There was just

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one thing that Ruth wanted for Christmas, and that was

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a mother. Her father had smiled and then had looked

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sad when she told him, Daddy, I want a mother

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for a Christmas present. One just like the children in

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the next house have. She tucks them in bed at night,

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and she tells them stories. I can see her from

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my window. I hide behind the curtains after nurse puts

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me to bed and watch, and sometimes when the windows

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are open, I can see her telling them stories. Won't you, please, Daddy, dear,

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give me a mother for a Christmas present? Mothers are

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not easy to get, her father explained. But Daddy, you

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are rich and you can buy anything. I heard Nurse

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tew COOKI were, said Ruth. Mothers can't cost so much

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for lots of poor children have them. You'd try and

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think of something else, said her father. I can't explain,

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But a mother is something you cannot buy, can't you?

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Asked Ruth. Then, how do children get mothers? Do they

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find them? Yes? I think they do, said her father,

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glad to end the questioning. This, however, did not end

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Ruth's thinking. Or wishing for a mother for her Christmas present.

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And one day, when the nurse was busy talking with

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cook in the kitchen, Ruth slipped out of the door

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to look for a mother. A long long distance she walked,

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and by and by she came to a house with

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flowers growing in little brown pots in the window. Ruth

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stopped and opened the gate to the yard and walked in.

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She did not see a button to push, and as

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that was the only kind she knew about, made a

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bell ring, she did the next best thing. She turned

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the knob of the door. The door swung open, and

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then some one opened the door in the hall, and

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Ruth saw a sweet faced lady standing there. She was

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not quite as young as Ruth had pictured the mother

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she wanted should be, but still she liked her face.

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I haven't any mother, I am looking for one, said Ruth.

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Between the bites and drinks. Daddy said he couldn't buy

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me one. That children found their mothers. The pretty lady laughed,

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and then she hugged Ruth closer to her. But tell

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me where you live, dear. Your father will be worried.

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He will think you are lost. She said, I live

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in a big house very much bigger than this, said Ruth.

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But it is not so pretty inside. We haven't any

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flowers growing in little bowls like yours. Can you tell

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me a story? Yes, baby, I can tell you a story,

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said the pretty lady. And I will if you will

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tell me your daddy's name so we can find him. Oh,

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his name is just daddy, said Ruth. But what do

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other people call him, asked the lady. Nurse calls him sir,

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and so does James, said Ruth. Please tell me a story.

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Are you anybody's mother, she asked, looking alarmed. Oh, dear, no,

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laughed the pretty lady. Then it is all right if

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you can tell a story, said Ruth. What is all right, dear,

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asked the pretty lady. Why you are my Christmas present?

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Said Ruth. You can be my mother, can't you. You

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don't belong to anybody else. Ruth snuggled close, and the

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pretty lady began to tell Once upon a Time, and

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soon Ruth was sound asleep in the pretty lady's arms.

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When Ruth awoke, the pretty lady still held her, and,

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for fear it all might be a dream, Ruth kept

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her eyes closed and lay very still. The pretty lady

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was talking to her mother. Don't you worry, mother, dear,

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She was saying, I'll find work somewhere. I know some

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one must need me, or I would not be in

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need of work. But you will not have any Christmas

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at all, my dear, and I can't bear to think

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that I cannot give you a present or cook your

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Christmas dinner, said the sweet faced lady. There is just

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one way we can have a dinner. I have the

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pearl earrings, your father's last gift to me, and I

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had always thought of you wearing them on your wedding day.

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We will sell them and then we can have a

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dinner and have some money left. It can't be done, mother, darling,

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said the pretty lady, and Ruth felt her sob as

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she tried to keep from crying. There are no stores

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open where we could sell them. It is too late

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in the day. Now, don't you worry about me. We

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will have the nicest dinner to morrow, you ever ate.

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I'll make a salad of what we have, and we

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will have popcorn, and I think we can have some fudge.

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But mother, we must find the father of this baby.

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And how are we going about it? She does not

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know where she lives. Ruth had opened her eyes now,

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for she felt somehow her new friends were in trouble. Though,

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why so prettier lady should want to find work, Ruth

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could not think. I'll show you where I live, said Ruth.

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You pack your trunk and call for the car and

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we will go home. Now I have found a mother.

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We will take the trunk. Later, said the pretty lady, laughing,

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And I am afraid, Ruth, dear, we will have to walk.

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You see, I have no car. Just then Ruth looked

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out of the window. Oh there is my daddy, she cried,

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running to the door. Daddy, Daddy, she called, come in here.

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I have found a mother. The pretty lady's cheeks grew

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pink and then red. Don't tell him about that, she

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said to Ruth. We'll keep it a secret. Ruth's father

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soon had her in his arms and was asking how

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she came to be so far from home, And the

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pretty lady and her mother told him how Ruth had

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come to the door, and that they could not find

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out who she was or where she lived. And so

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miss Mary and I were going to walk home when

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I saw you, said Ruth. And she is going to

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bring her trunk after a while. Oh yes, I had

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to tell her that to satisfy her, explained miss Mary.

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She wanted me to come to live at her house. Daddy.

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They had no car, said Ruth. And miss Mary wants

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to go to work. Miss Mary's face grew red again,

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and this time the face of the mother flushed. It

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is true, I do need work, said the pretty lady,

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but as yet I have not found any one who

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wanted such work as I can do. Perhaps I can

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help you, said Ruth's father. What sort of work can

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you do? I thought of office work and bookkeeping. I

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wanted to teach, but there is no opening at present,

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said miss Mary. Why not teach Ruth? I shall have

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to look for some one next here anyway, and you

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too could be getting acquainted before that time, said Ruth's father.

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But my mother I could not leave her alone. I

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should I have to go home at night, said miss Mary. Daddy.

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Miss Mary can tell stories just like a mother, said Ruth.

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I wanted to tuck me in at night, just like

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the mother in the next house does. They all laughed

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at this, and Ruth's father said, I guess we can

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arrange that by taking your mother along too. I need

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a housekeeper the very worst way. Before Ruth and her

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father left that afternoon, it was arranged that miss Mary

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and her mother should take Christmas dinner with them the

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next day. But before it was time for them to come,

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a big box was left at the door, and in

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it were two nice coats with fur collars, gifts from

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Ruth to miss Mary and her mother. On the way home,

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Ruth had told her father all she had heard when

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miss Mary and her mother were talking, and about the

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shabby coat miss Mary had worn. Although it was hard

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work for miss Mary to keep Ruth from talking about

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a mother by making Ruth think it was their secret

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and that she must not tell. Her father heard only

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of the secret that she and miss Mary had. But

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one day he asked about this wonderful secret, and Ruth

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told him she wanted miss Mary for her mother, that

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she had found her. He told her children found their mothers,

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and why couldn't she have miss Mary for hers? Go

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ask her and see what she says, said her father,

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And so Ruth did, and her father came into the

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room just as she finished the question, what is your answer?

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Asked Ruth's father. Miss Mary turned pink and then her

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cheeks grew red, and Ruth said, you're my mother, aren't you.

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Miss Mary. I found you and Daddy told me that

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was the way children got them. Please miss Mary say yes, yes,

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please do Mary, said Ruth's father, and Miss Mary said,

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well as you both urge me, so I will say yes.

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And then Ruth's father kissed Miss Mary and Ruth and

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Ruth kissed Miss Mary and they all lived happy ever after.

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End of Ruth's Christmas by Abbe Philip's Walker